Posts Tagged ‘The Eye’
Great books, great Columbians
All of us have those books that have made us who we are today. Maybe we are inspired by the biography of our personal hero, or maybe we have been deeply influenced by a religious text.
Maybe we’re being molded by some of the pieces we’re reading in our philosophy seminars, or maybe there’s that one special childhood story that always seems to color our worldview.
This past week, The Eye’s Allyson Gronowitz discussed My Ideal Bookshelf, a collaboration between artist Jane Mount and writer Thessaly La Force to produce images of well-known figures’ 100 favorite books, revealing a great deal about their personalities. There’s no doubt that someone’s favorite books can say a lot about them, and learning one’s preferred titles can make you feel a lot more intimately acquainted with them. We thought it would be fun, then, to find out some prominent past Columbians’ favorite books.
Columbia, despite the nearly complete lack of American writers in the Core, nevertheless seems to foster an appreciation for American classics. Actor James Franco counts William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying among his favorites, and songstress Alicia Keys loves Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and Willa Cather’s My Antonia.
Help yourselves, ladies!
Have you ever gotten trapped in a serious conversation with a friend about her current guy problems? You know, the kind of conversation that involves mulling over each possible interpretation of his single-worded “lol” texts and his aversion to watching The Notebook? His excuses have seemed sketchy, their future seems bleak, and not a bone in your body can conjure up a gentle way of letting her know that her boy toy is pushing her towards the friend zone. Luckily, this week The Eye found someone who has taken the initiative to set all us ladies straight.
Bitch Are You Retarded?: Stop Being A Dumbass! Either He Loves You, He’s in Love With You, Or You’re Just Something To Do Right Now. Either Way, Learn the Difference, and When to Walk Away is not only a single title in which “bitch,” “retarded,” and “dumbass” are all directed towards the reader, but also a… shall we say… highly original dating self-help book written from a guy’s perspective.
Theater, all grown up
In this week’s issue of The Eye, Lauren Brown discusses After Work, a program in New York through which adults can pay a fee (equivalent to a gym membership) to be part of full-scale musicals. While we think this is a great way to keep the arts in your life after graduation, there are some musicals this group of people should not produce.
Annie
This wouldn’t work on many levels. Firstly, the orphanage full of women just wouldn’t be as depressingly cute. It would read as a brothel, and “Hard-Knock Life” would just be horrifying. Furthermore, an old, bald man taking in an older woman and giving her the life she always wanted is so cute when Annie is a kid, but if she’s an adult, it gives off “Pretty Woman” vibes. Also, she calls him Daddy Warbucks. Need I say more?
The all-consuming nature of Columbia
What are you doing for spring break? No matter what it is, we at The Eye hope it’s educational. That’s the best thing about the Core: It follows you wherever you go.
If you’re an athlete, though, we know your spring break plans may, unfortunately, not be all that fun. This week, we thought a lot about the intense sacrifices you make to the University. For most of us, though, it’s easy to feel like you’re making plenty of sacrifices at this University.
That’s right, we’re talking about Room Selection. When we hear people complain about the “tiny” size of the apartments in Bloomberg’s new NYC micro-housing initiative, most of which run between two and three times the size of the average Columbia double, it’s easy to roll our eyes.
Never fear, though. If you’re really stressed out, there are a multitude of excellent self-help titles out there for the reading.
For all these stories and more, read The Eye this week!
The party of the month? No, the party of the year
In this week’s issue of The Eye, we interviewed Aaron Carter—that’s right, the pop star of our youth who threw the best parties, beat Shaq, and knew that special girl who came from Spain. Aaron, judging by the interview, has grown into a wise man of few words. However, behind his reticence lies a wild life ready for Instagramming.
And don’t worry: he still parties.
Aww, he never gave up on her. More »
The Secrets of St. A’s and Aaron Carter
Everyone has secrets. This week, The Eye discussed secrets with a whole lot of people, including the notoriously secretive (yet simultaneously ostentatious) St. A’s.
Another person we found who seems to have many secrets is Aaron Carter, a man whose reticence during our interview may conceal a lifetime of top-secret work since “I Want Candy.”
There are, of course, those who seem to have no secrets, though. For example, the Kardashians’ shameless brand of fame that would have divulged any secrets long ago.
Finally, there is, of course, Emlyn Hughes, who, we all know, no longer has anything to hide.
For these juicy tidbits and more, read The Eye this week!
Columbia style, street by street
This week, The Eye’s Hari Nef explores the implications of Vanity Fair’s recent announcement that it will begin to feature non-celebrities on its best-dressed list. If you’re hoping to be admitted, here are some tips for appropriate street style at various venues around campus.
Broadway between 114th and 113th: International Style
The furtive freshman is a staple of this block and can often be spotted eyeing Costco-sized Svedkas and praying that the chalk hasn’t rubbed off of their learner’s permits. Be sure to wear your most sophisticated outfit here—you know, the one that says, “Why yes, I am over 21, and I do have a mature taste palate for fine wines and liquors.” Try not to accessorize with your NSOP badge, and remember: burgundy (plastic bags) is the new black!
More »
Notes from the Underground
To mark the celebration commemorating the centennial of Grand Central Station, The Eye interviewed Gabrielle Shubert, director of the New York Transit Museum, to discuss the famous station. Of course, though, Grand Central is not the only fascinating part of New York’s ingenious and storied public transit system. Here are some spots in the subway that particularly stand out.
One of the best views from a subway line is from the N train to Coney Island. Right before stopping at the theme park, the train rounds a bend, and the ocean and some of the park’s most famous sights come into view.
Popping the Columbia Bubble
The Eye knows that housing can be pretty scary. You could be stuck with a totally crazy roommate. But don’t stress too much—we are at Columbia, after all, so even if your roommate has an annoying and unrelenting Mel’s addiction that causes him to stumble in at all hours, he could end up being the next Barack Obama.
If that’s not comforting enough to you, you have a couple more options, one being to get off campus and decompress. Why not try going to East Harlem (we know, we know, crosstown) to check out the vibrant Latino bookstore La Casa Azul? Or rent a bike from a bike share and go for a ride? Or head down to Grand Central Station for its 100th anniversary?
None of that working for you, either? Well, there is one last thing… you could immerse yourself in the forefront of campus creativity, enjoying gorgeous fiction and photo essays. Where can you possibly enjoy all that, you ask?
The Eye, of course!
“This place has everything”: The weirdest hotspots in NYC
In light of The Eye’s feature on the trend of rock musicals this week, we decided to do a roundup of some of the loudest, wildest things to do in NYC. New York has always been at the forefront of the tasteless and the magical, and not just in theater, but in art and music as well. Here’s a quick look at what once was and what is currently freaking your parents out.
Andy Warhol’s “Exploding Plastic Inevitable” (EPI) was a series of multimedia concerts that began in New York in 1966. EPI took place throughout the city, but the most common venue was “Dom,” a club formerly located in the East Village. These events combined interpretive dance, poetry reading, S&M play, film screenings, and music by the legendary rock band the Velvet Underground. Heavy drug use, free love, and general experimentation were par for the course.
Lucky for us, there are a few places throughout the city that are still dedicated to this spirit of uninhibited eccentricity. More »